The following background discussion includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
In the past, it was common to utilize a fan in conjunction with a cloth or other material to provide the appearance of a flame. See, e.g., UK pat. publ. no. 2379731 to Bridgman, UK pat. publ. no. 2323159 to Harrison, U.S. Pat. No. 6,454,425 to Lin, U.S. Pat. No. 6,312,137 to Hsieh, U.S. pat. publ. no. 2003/0053305 to Lin, U.S. pat. publ. no. 2004/0165374 to Robinson, and U.S. Pat. No. 7,686,471 to Reichow. However, such devices typically produced a unrealistic flame effect, especially when viewed from a close distance.
Various other electric lights are known in the art that emulate a flickering flame by varying a brightness of one or more light sources within the light. However, such light sources simulate the glow of a candle rather than simulate the appearance of a real flame.
In a marked improvement, it is known to utility an electromagnet to generate movement of a pendulum member and thereby simulate the flickering of a flame. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 8,132,936 to Patton et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,070,319 to Schnuckle et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,837,355 to Schnuckle et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,261,455 to Schnuckle et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,159,994 to Schnuckle et al. and U.S. pat publ. no. US 2011/0127914 to Patton et al. It is also known to utilize a fan to cause movement of a pendulum member. See, e.g., U.S. pat. publ. no. 2013/0050985 to Kwok et al. and U.S. pat. publ. no. 2012/0134157 to Li. However, such devices can be inefficient and can be improved through more efficient manners of simulating a flickering flame such as by using the inventive subject matter discussed herein.
Unless the context dictates the contrary, all ranges set forth herein should be interpreted as being inclusive of their endpoints, and open-ended ranges should be interpreted to include commercially practical values. Similarly, all lists of values should be considered as inclusive of intermediate values unless the context indicates the contrary.
Thus, there is still a need for improved electric candles and other light sources that utilize air flow to produce a flickering flame effect.